Furry Fury 

They can certainly hear a great deal of commotion coming from the direction of the square, and they can still see orange flames above the tops of the building.

Jihan opens the door silently and peers out into the street outside. The street is empty. There are no Nyemetz around and certainly none of the citizens of the town are foolish enough to break curfew. Seeing that the coast is clear, Jihan urges the rest of them onwards.

 Jihan guides the route out, spotting shadows that will mask the group's escape. He walks 20 paces ahead of the rest, stopping whenever he is unsure that the way ahead is clear. Winnacer teams up with Granny and Xavier with Bekkah so that the weaker members of the party can benefit from the warriors' strength.

Jihan jinks through the streets. At one point, he flattens himself against a building and indicates that the rest of them should do the same.

They hold your breaths as they see a company of goblins approaching, rushing in the direction of the square. The warriors hold their weapons close to them under their cloaks. However, to everyone's relief, the goblins are in such a hurry to get to the square that they are not paying any attention to their surroundings.

Jihan remains still while he listens to the sound of the goblins' feet departing and then carries on with the escape. The next five minutes are uneventful and then Jihan finally reaches the outskirts of the village and sees a clearing in front of him. Five hundred paces away, he can make out dark shadows indicating the treeline.

As he reaches the side of the last building, Jihan peers around the corner of the building to see whether there are any guardtowers close. As he looks, he immediately brings his head back. There is a guardtower just a few paces around the corner of the building.

Considering it too risky to attempt to leave the town so close to the guardtower, Jihan moves a couple of streets down away from their present position, indicating that the others should follow him. From this position, he again checks out the position of the guardtowers, He can still see the first guardtower, although it is quite a distance away now. There is a second guardtower to the south that is now in view, although this too is far away.

Jihan returns to speak with the rest of them:

'This is where we should cross. We shall cross one at a time for the able bodied, but I think that the gnomes could do with some assistance, so perhaps Winnacer, Xavier and Bennett could take one of them with them as they cross. I shall cross first. Watch the route that I take and copy it exactly until you get to the treeline. All those with missile weapons get ready to use them in case there are any problems. Once I get to the trees, then I shall give the call of an owl to indicate that it is time for the next person or team to cross.'

All nod, and Jihan crouches down and steps away from the safety of the buildings out into the clearing. Jihan's experience in the outdoors really shows, as he moves silently from one clump of low grass to a small bush, keeping a low profile all of the time. The others look on at his route and style so as to copy it when it is their turn. During Jihan's crossing, there is no reaction from either of the guardtowers. Although the distance is too far to see who the occupants are and what they are up to, it's a safe guess to assume that they are watching the events inside the town unfold rather than the clearing, as explosions are still coming from the Witchfinder Building and the Nyemetz have now started their house-to-house searches. After a couple of hundred paces, Jihan disappears into the night, obscured from view by the almost moonless night.

Jihan finally reaches the safety of the trees and immediately sinks to his knees while drawing his shortbow. He makes the call of an owl and Faewen'il, who is the next to cross, starts off on the journey across the clearing. She too manages the crossing without alerting the guards and Jihan gives another cry to signal that the next should start their crossing. Then the warriors and the gnomes start to cross. First Winnacer guides Granny across, followed by Xavier with Bekkah and then Bennett with Heimlin. With the gnomes safely across, the last members of the party take their turns. Flint goes next, then Darius and finally Yaz. They all breathe a sigh of relief as Yaz makes it across. It seems that their escape from the town has been successful.

'Well that's the most dangerous part of the exercise accomplished' says Winnacer. 'But we must still make haste in order to put as much distance as possible between us and the town as we can before dawn, and we have only an hour and a half before sunrise.'

'I shall lead' says Yaz. 'I am familiar with the ways of the forest.'

'And I shall bring up the rear' adds Jihan. 'That way I should be able to ensure that we are not being followed.'

They start off heading in a south-easterly direction with Yaz at the head of the party. The warriors are still accompanying the gnomes, helping them to keep up with the brisk pace that the druid is setting. After just a few minutes of travel, the flat ground beneath Dvur Kralovye breaks up to be replaced by rolling low hills which are wooded. Yaz and Jihan feel very glad to be away from the town, back in Prirodna's realm.

After around half an hour of travel, the sound of water can be heard, obviously the River Labe. Yaz changes direction a little, taking a course that runs parallel to the river, while keeping to the wooded hills.

They continue in this direction for another hour. During this time, Jihan keeps stopping and listening to hear whether there are any attempts to follow you. However, as he listens, he hears nothing. The chaos of the town has now been left behind and there appears to be no attempt to follow the party.

The black of night turns to the gray of dawn and then the sky changes color again to orange, as the sun starts to rise in the west. They reckon that they are around a mile and a half from Dvur Kralovye by now.

 

22 SEPTEMBER 3460

Winnacer sees that everyone is looking tired after the exertions of the assault upon the Witchfinder Building and the journey from the town, but Winnacer urges them still onwards:

'Although I understand that we would all appreciate sleep at this time, we need to put more distance between ourselves and the Nyemetz. The further that we get from the town, the safer we shall be. Please summon up the last of your energy so that we may put a few more miles between us and the town before we can afford the luxury of sleep.'

The rest all nod in agreement, realizing that Winnacer is right and Yaz carries on leading the way away from the town. With no more darkness to hide the party from view, Yaz takes even more care in leading the way, keeping to the densest part of the woods and avoiding the crest of the hills as he leads the party onwards. He spends another six hours leading the party onwards, seeing from the fact that the sun is overhead that it is now around midday. He reckons that the party must be four or five miles from Dvur Kralovye now.

He is feeling weary now. Looking round at the others, he can see that they too are almost ready to drop, especially the gnomes who have only been able to make it this far through the efforts of the warriors to drag, carry or push them onwards.

'We must rest now' says Yaz. 'We need to regain our energy. After I have slept, I will be able to heal you.'

Winnacer nods in agreement:

'OK, let's start looking around for somewhere secure to make camp.'

Yaz walks on a little further. Then, he sees smoke rising a few hundred yards to the southwest. He decides to lead the others to investigate. As the party gets closer, Yaz, Darius and Jihan carry on to investigate, while the noisier members of the party stay a distance away.

The three of them get closer and can now hear the crackle of a fire. Then a wooden shack comes into view. Finally, they see a solitary figure sat at the fire. The figure has his back to them and so they cannot make out anything about him. They are wondering whether to approach the character or whether he could be a Nyemetz sympathizer, when they see the familiar form of Flint walk out from the woods and go up to the fire.

The figure looks round surprised as he hears the dwarf walk up to him. As he does, they can see that the figure is a young half-elf. Flint proceeds to walk up and sits in front of the fire. Once again, he starts to stare at the flames dancing in the center of the large bonfire.

'Errm...hello' says the half-elf. 'Can I help you?'

There is no reply from Flint.

'Would you like some tea? I'm just brewing up a pot. So what brings you to these parts? I don't get a lot of visitors.'

Flint is still staring into the fire.

Yaz hesitates, then, without taking his eyes off the half-elf, motions to the others to stay with his hands, and gets up and noisily enters the small clearing.

"Uh, hi," he says eloquently.

The half-elf looks around to see the new visitor and smiles when he sees that it is a fellow half-elf:

'Hello' he says 'Quite remarkable. I haven't had a visitor for a couple of months now, and then I get two at once. A dwarf and a half-elf, now that's a pairing that you don't see everyday!'

Yaz heads directly for the dwarf, and interposes himself between Flint and the fire. He waves a hand in front of the dwarf's face:

"Hello?"

Flint still stares into the fire.

Yaz kicks his leg gently. "Flint?"

He pushes on the dwarf's shoulder. This brings Flint to attention a little and he puts his hand together and starts chanting into the fire:

Yaz turns to the half-elf. "What's up with HIM?" he asks the stranger.

The stranger gives a little shrug:

'I thought that he was your friend. I've no idea what he's up to. I haven't come across too many dwarves in my time. Perhaps it's normal behavior for them.'

"And who are you, come to think of it...?"

'Sorry, how rude of me not to introduce myself earlier' the stranger replies. 'My name is Elthanor. Welcome to my humble abode.'

"I've got a few friends... I'm gonna invite them over, 'zat OK?"

'This is wonderful!' exclaims Elthanor. 'I love receiving visitors, as usually I just have my furry forest friends for company. I must prepare a feast in honor of you. The fare will be simple, but plentiful. Prirodna provides well for her subjects.'

Yaz then gives the owl call, near-perfectly, and motions for the group to join them.

The others cautiously make their way forwards, keeping an eye on their surroundings to ensure that they are not being led into a trap. As they enter the encampment, Elthanor shakes each one by the hand with vigor. As the party settles down by the fire, ignoring Flint's chanting, a fox pokes his nose out of the log cabin and sniffs the air nervously. After a few minutes of observing the party, he walks up to them and starts to nuzzle everyone, particularly Jihan and Yaz.

'Come on, Red' says Elthanor. 'Don't be bothering the good folk, they look tired and in need of some rest. Come with me and collect some berries.'

With that, the fox scampers after Elthanor as he disappears into the forest carrying a couple of large baskets.

Faewen'il sits back with the others and makes some odd motions with her hands while humming something under her breath. In a matter of minutes, she is clean once more. The effort of working even that simple magic has left her thoroughly tired as she leans herself against a tree to take a short nap, her hands protectively wrapped around all of her books and the four scrolls.

They sit around the fire for almost an hour. The gnomes are already asleep by that time. The warriors keep a watch of the surrounding areas, too nervous of being discovered by the Nyemetz to relax properly.

Then Elthanor returns, with the baskets brimming over with berries and fruits.

'I'm sorry that I don't have any plates or anything for you to eat off. As I said, I'm not used to entertaining two-legged guests. Please, help yourself to some lunch.'

With that, Elthanor helps himself to an apple and starts munching on it.

'So, what brings you through the woods so far off the trails?'

As they eat, Red the fox nervously comes to sit between Yaz and Jihan. Yaz starts to stroke the fox under his chin and the fox rolls over, obviously enjoying the attention.

Elthanor smiles and then speaks as he sees Yaz's natural gift with animals:

'Old Red's a lucky old chap' the half-elf explains. 'There's a fur farm just a couple of hours south of here, on the edge of the woods close to the river. They catch and breed all sorts of animals there, only to kill them once they are fully grown, to sell their hides to furriers across the country. There's just about every type of animal there that you can think of with a skin that's worth money to furriers - foxes, like old Red there, minks, ermines, otters, badgers, squirrels, even a few bears.'

'The fur farm has been established there for about three years now. As soon as I found out about it, I tried to reason with them, trying to explain that killing animals just so that their hides can be worn as fashion accessories is a crime against Prirodna. However, they wouldn't listen to me, saying that I was just a crazy old hermit. After that failed, I used more direct methods to stop their activities, by breaking their cages and freeing the animals. However, the fur trade is a profitable one and they were able to invest the proceeds of their criminal activities in developing their business. As well as increasing the scale of their activities, they also increased security.'

'My last raid was just over a year ago, but I only managed to free a few animals, including Red, as they have fortified the area and employed Polak mercenaries to guard the place. I was lucky to escape from the last raid with my life. The mercenaries pursued me for several miles but, luckily, I knew the woods a lot better than they did and so I was able to lose them. I've checked out the fur farm again recently, and have seen that the farm is now larger than ever, and even better protected. I would surely be killed were I attempt to break into the farm again. I have to make do with wandering through the woods looking for their traps and disabling them. I have been able to save quite a few animals that way, but it pains me to know that there are many more hundreds of animals inside the farm, just waiting for the winter to start when their pelts will be at their thickest and most valuable. Then they will all be slaughtered, for what? For carpets and for the cloaks of 'nobles'.'

Elthanor is then quiet, and carries on eating his fruit and berries in silence.

After Elthanor finishes his words, during which Yaz's eyes grew rounder and rounder, Yaz stands up, scowling, scimitar drawn:

"Well let's go,then."

He turns to Jihan. "Coming?" And to the others. "Anyone else?"

Elthanor smiles at Yaz, having obviously provoked the reaction that he was looking for.

Before the half-elf has a chance to respond to Yaz, Jihan speaks:

"When are we going to be able to save Bohavia? The problems with my people, then Nuts, Giselle and Wise-Nose, and now this? Yet I can not refuse Her call..."

With a sigh and a smile, the elf vigorously scratches the fox's belly, making the animal almost purr in delight.

Looking up towards the half-elven stranger, Jihan moves himself a little further away from Flint so as not to disrupt the dwarf's prayers before conversing in any appreciable volume.

"So Elthanor, it appears my friend and I have found another follower of the Lady, few and far between as they are on our travels. Tell us a little about yourself. How did you come to live here? How did you find the Lady?"

Scritching behind Red's left ear again, the elf looks up expectantly at Elthanor.

While Jihan speaks, Yaz is shifting from foot to foot impatiently, gripping his scimitar in his hand tightly, glancing at the half-elf, then to the woods to the south, then at the party. When Jihan finishes, Yaz blurts out:

"Look, uh, I don't mean to interrupt our chat or anything, but... can we get going? The animals need rescuing. I won't have any of this skinning shit. Let's go in an' cut their balls off!"

Yaz raises his blade and brings it down with a 'swish'. He looks to Winnacer for support before slowly coming to the realization that he won't get it, at least not until the party has rested.

"But that's, like, HOURS away. You know how many creatures will be butchered in that time?"

Elthanor holds his hands up in front of Yaz in an attempt to calm him a little:

'Patience, my brother, patience. I am quite sure that none of the creatures will be butchered in the next few hours, nor will they be butchered in the next few weeks neither. I have learned quite a bit about their foul activities from observing them over the past years and have come to learn that they only practice their butchery during the winter months, when the animals' pelts are at their thickest. As it is only late September now, they will not start to murder the animals for two or three months. However, the conditions of the animals' cages are terrible and it pains me to think of them being cooped up there for any length of time.'

Seeing Yaz sit down, although perhaps only temporarily, Elthanor turns to Jihan in order to answer his questions:

'My background? It is not such an interesting tale as yours, I would guess. My father was a druid from Tabor, an acolyte of the great Janhuss. Together with Janhuss, he traveled far and wide, preaching the gospel of Prirodna and the evils of destroying her realm. As the history books have written, he did not meet with much success in trying to teach the humans of the wrongs of destroying the forest, although he did get a favorable reaction from a young human woman, who went on to become his wife and my mother.'

'They lived together happily for several years, until the Civil War broke out. As I'm sure you can imagine, this was a very difficult time for mixed relationships, as both elves and humans alike shunned them. As a result, they were forced to flee from their home in Tabor to live in the forests. Although they missed their kin, they were happy living together in the forests, living off Prirodna's rich bounty and I had a happy upbringing. However, then the Nyemetz came and discovered my parents' abode. Thinking that they were part of the resistance movement, they took them away in chains. I am sure that they were executed shortly after. Luckily for me, I was collecting firewood at the time and so I evaded capture. I've been living in the forests since then. Prirodna is generous and so I want for little. In order to obtain the few items that Prirodna does not provide, I burn fallen wood into charcoal and sell it in either Dvur Kralovye or Hradetz Kralovye to obtain a little money for other items. However, the towns, and the disregard for Prirodna that their inhabitants possess, disgust me. I try to go there as seldom as possible.'

Faewen'il sits with her back against a tree a little bit away from the others as she eats the food the half-elf had given her. Her mind, it is easy to see, is still on other things; the somber expression on her face becoming more the commonplace it seemed.

The conversations around Faewen'il concerning the wisdom of attacking the fur farm immediately or waiting a while go unheeded, until at some mystical moment only the gods would know the significance of, she takes a deep breath and speaks.

"Sar Xavier... I needs ta be havin a word with ye.... in private." she says somewhat sternly.

Faewen'il then gets up and walks back towards the way they came, waiting for him to follow her out of sight of the others.

Xavier agrees immediately and walks behind her.

Darius, after making a reference to their being in love, steals behind Xavier at a distance, intrigued by what they are planning to discuss. However, the goblin's sneaking skills, more attuned to cities rather than the woods, steps on a twig alerting the two of them to his presence. Xavier sends him packing with dire threats as to what he will do to him should he not return to the camp.

Faewen'il and Xavier proceed to continue the argument that they started in theWtichfinder Building following Xavier's rash decision to execute the Apprentice Witchfinder, even though he had already surrendered to the party. Faewen'il warned Xavier that if he ever considered such thoughtless brutality again, then she would throw herself upon his sword rather than let him proceed. Xavier comes to see the error of his ways, and the two of them end up in tears as they both come ot face their pasts.

While Xavier and Faewen'il are having their private discussion, the others return to the subject of whether to attack the fur farm now. Bennett, who has recently returned from some necessary business in the woods, tells the others that he is in favor of attacking the place immediately. Winnacer, on the other hand, agrees with Jihan in thinking that there are more urgent matters to attend to and that they should rather return to the fur farm within two months so as to save the animals from being killed.

At this point, Faewen'il returns to the group without Xavier, her face still somber and thoughtful; though the fire in her eyes was absent.

"Ye will not be seekin out sar Xavier... he has asked for time ta be alone with his thoughts." Faewen'il says without a hint of emotion as she heads back to the tree she was sitting at.

With a heavy sigh she sits back down once more to finish her meal, her gaze occasionally looking towards where she had come from.

Elthanor responds to the others after it becomes obvious that there is no final decision regarding the fur farm:

'I understand perfectly that you have other matters to attend to, rather than being in a position to help me deal with the furriers immediately. I respect your decision, whatever it may be.'

'For now, you all look very tired. I suggest that you all get some rest. In the morning, I shall walk with you to the edge of the woods and will show you the fur farm so that you know its location should anything happen to me.'

'I am sorry to say that my accommodation is most humble, but I would offer the sanctuary of my cabin to the women-folk amongst your numbers. I am no stranger to having the stars for a ceiling, as I am sure is the case with the rest of you.'

They all help to move the sleeping forms of Granny and Bekkah into Elthanor's cabin, tucking them into his bed. The half-elf then helps them erect the honey leather tents that they were able to rescue from the Witchfinder Building. They then set up a watch rota and then each fall into well-needed sleep.

 

23 SEPTEMBER 3460

The night passes without incident and they all awake around dawn, having already had twelve hours of sleep, interrupted only by their guard duties. At some point during the night, Xavier returned to camp. He looks somewhat upset and is seemingly lost in a personal world of inner turmoil. It is obvious that he is in no mood for conversation.

As the sun starts to rise, Jihan, Yaz and Elthanor walk a short distance into the forest and together start their morning devotions to Prirodna. They return after half an hour, and Elthanor serves up the last of the berries and fruit for breakfast. Then it is time to leave.

Elthanor leads the way southwards to show them the fur farm. Progress through the woods is slow, as the gnomes move very slowly and there are both Nyemetz and trappers to avoid as they make your may through the woods. After three hours of slow travel, however, the woods start to thin out as they reach the edge of the forest. As they get closer to the edge, Yaz and Jihan both start to feel highly uneasy. The usual music of the woods, with its birdsong, chittering of insects and almost undetectable sounds of animals communicating disappears, to be replaced by just an uneasy silence.

The half-elf tells everyone to be very quiet and careful, and then cautiously leads them to the very edge of the woods. Before them, they see the huge form of the fur farm looming.

Had Elthanor not already told them of the place's purpose, they would assume that the place was a fortress instead of a farm. High walls reaching twelve feet into the air surround the whole complex. The walls are made of logs that have been sunk into the ground and then lashed together tightly. The tree stumps that litter the ground almost as far as their eyes can see tells of the huge area of woods that were cleared in order to provide the timber needed to build the structure. They realize that the fur trade must bring in fabulous profits to afford such a structure. The four corners of the complex contain guardtowers, that rise above the walls. From their position, they can just make out fur clad mercenaries situated in the guardtowers. There appears to be two in each tower, all armed with heavy crossbows. Some are keeping a lookout, while the others are just sitting around looking bored. Inside the complex, you can see the roofs of a number of buildings. Elthanor uses a stick to scratch a simple diagram of the layout of the complex, showing the purpose of each of the buildings.

Once they have seen all that there is to see, Elthanor speaks to them all:

'So this is what I am faced with. As you can see, I was not exaggerating when I told you about the strength of their fortifications and the methods that you that they use to protect their 'investment'. The chief of the farm is a canny merchant and has grown the farm into one of the largest in Bohavia. He knows that there are others like me who would like to see an end to his business and has thus gone to a considerable amount of trouble to protect it.'

'As I said before, I will not pressure you to help me at this moment. Your decision to help me at any time before the slaughter will take place in the winter brings me great joy as it is. You know the location of the fur farm now, and also the location of my cabin. If you are carrying on with your journey now, then I will wish you farewell and will chant to Prirodna each day to aid you in your tasks and to pray that you make a swift return.'

Yaz is still adamant that he wants to attack the fur farm immediately:

"We can free the animals. We can destroy the traps and snares they use to capture the creatures. We can slit the throats of the orcish scum who guard and maintain the place. And then we can burn the entire f***ing camp to the ground. Hear that, Flint? I said BURN THE PLACE DOWN."

Flint is staring at the camp, with his eyes back to their glassy, manic state. A huge grin fills his face as he looks at the farm.

'Burn up a treat, that lot would!' says Flint, imagining the conflagration that would result from the blazing complex.

'I'd give just about anything to have a crack at it. Mind you, it would take a lot of Holy Liquid to burn it up good, a lot more than I've got with me. I'd need to go back to my Temple and get some more. I need to get some more Holy Powder as well, as I'm down to my last sack.'

'It's tempting to storm right in and have a go at burning up the place, but I'd rather wait a month or so and do the job properly. That would be one of my greatest ever achievements, that would.'

Yaz is a little disappointed that Flint is in favor of the later rather than sooner scenario.

"I wonder even if Giselle is there. Maybe they've kept her, using her strength in their black labour. And Wise-Nose. You never know. Guys, maximum 4 hours out of our way. Maybe less. Let's do 'er! Let's give 'er the hunion!"

'I very much doubt that' interjects Heimlin. 'The animals were let loose not far from here, it's true, but the Labe's in the way. I don't think neither the animals nor the trappers would bother with tryin' to cross the river, as the only crossin' point from there to 'ere is the ford at Dvur.'

Xavier is still in a non-communicative mood and stays a distance away from the rest of them. He seems to have no interest in the attack on the fur farm. He sees Elthanor staring at him, and adjusts the stinky black cloak that he has been wearing, hoping to avoid any conflict over the fact that he is wearing a bearskin underneath it. Elthanor pretends not to notice it.

Looking at the fortifications, Jihan seems more than disheartened at the prospect of a prolonged planning session for an assault, and the necessary time spent observing the orders of watch rotations and scouting for weaknesses.

"I do not think it would be so easy as to simply storm in and hack the helpless evil-doers to the ground, freeing my brothers and sisters and burning the wretched place to the ground. The rich certainly provide well to protect their 'investments.' This will not be a matter of a few hours, but of a DAY at the very least, assuming we can find a way to infiltrate the complex easily. We have proven that we are becoming more able to deal with increasing difficulties, but a quarrel in the back equalizes..."

Looking at Yaz almost apologetically, the elf, who made no comment but for an uneasy silent stare into the fire when the druid again made his plea, sighs and absently fiddles with Link again. Realizing what he is doing yet again, he resheaths the dagger, muttering:

"Luhhan always hated me doing that..."

Catching Yaz's eye, only sorrow and frustration can be seen in his own:

"Do you still want to go through with this now, brother? The world is naught but suffering for all this country, and even the smallest of Her children must endure it at times, and ALL are equal in her eyes, though their actions may prove otherwise. I can almost feel Langzhan in my hands just looking at the place."

Doing so, another sigh escapes his form:

"If nothing else, we would have to wait until nightfall to scout it out, and make our next decision then. We can assume nothing as of now."

Turning to Heimlin, he walks over to the gnomes, smoothing back a stray hair from the still distraught Bekkah's face and asking while doing so:

"What say you on this Heimlin? As you will probably not choose to take an active role in this, we will be abandoning you if we fail, opening you up to the ravages of the trappers if they come looking for collaborators in the woods. What say you?"

'Yer needn't worry about me' replies the gnome. 'I'll be all right. But it's Bekkah that I'm worried about. Look at 'er. It's a week today since those bastards committed their atrocities on 'er, an' she's 'ad the prison experience as well since then. She ain't getting' any better. I wouldn't like 'er to see any more killin'. I'm sure it ain't good for 'er. I know that yer've got yer obligations, but I'd like to get 'er to Holitze as soon as possible so that Kesryk can see 'er. I'm sure that 'e'll know 'ow to make 'er better. There's a few things that I want to talk to 'im about as well. No, me an' Granny an' Bekkah, we're nothin' but a burden to yers. I reckon it would be better for all of us if yer gets us to Holitze as soon as yer can so you 'ave one less thing to worry about. There's a lot that's wrong in Bohavia, and not enough folks like you to set things to right. But Rzyeem wasn't built in a day, so I reckons that you needs to start settin' some priorities.'

All is quiet for a few moments as everyone considers their next actions. It is Flint that is first to break the silence:

'I reckon I should leave you all now, although I like to be around with you. It seems like you're always finding some good stuff to burn or blow up. I reckon that I should go back to my temple and pick up as much Holy Liquid and Holy Powder as I can get out of the High Priest and meet you back at Elthanor's place in about a month or so. Is that alright with you, Elthanor? You won't find a better charcoal burner than me. I can help you while I'm waiting for them to get back.'

Elthanor smiles:

'It would be a pleasure to have your company for a while. It's not often that I get visitors and I'd like to find out more about you. I've certainly never met anyone quite like you before.'

'OK' replies Flint. 'It's a deal then. I'm off back to my temple to pick up some more of Ohen's gifts, and I'll meet you back at Elthanor's place in a month or so then.'

Bennett is still enthusiastic to attack the fur farm, especially when Yaz mentions that there are orcs there.

'Look again' says Elthanor. 'It's not a Nyemetz operation, those are Polak mercenaries, humans, that they have there guarding their evil settlement.

Upon hearing that the party would be fighting humans rather than orcs, Bennett is less enthusiastic about attacking the farm straight away.

Hearing Heimlin's words only strengthens any wavering on Jihan's part, and his present responsibilities come back in full force. He puts a comforting hand on Bekkah's shoulder and whispers a prayer to The Lady on her behalf, as they have noticed him doing several times in the past few days:

"It sounds as if it is decided, though not entirely on our own parts," he says with an apologetic nod towards Yaz and Bennett.

"There are too many of them, and they are too well organized to make a quick strike and expect any reasonable success. It cuts me deep inside to leave so many caged, yet again, I think we have too much to do... too many other pressing responsibilities to risk it all on this one. The small lead to the large... we will have time. In one month then, we will return here with Flint and take this place down properly, leaving nothing but a smoking pit of ashes for these 'nobles' to find."

Yaz looks on, eyes wide. He swallows hard.

"Arright, well... I guess it's maybe not as easy as I thought."

He turns to Elthanor.

"We'll come back. Maybe we can get an inside scoop on the place from Hradetz."

He scowls, then spits, obviously not impressed with himself for giving up without trying, but defeated by the reality of the situation in the end.

'So, this is where we part for the moment' says Flint. 'Look after yourselves, and keep a good eye out for anything that could do with blowing up on your travels.'

Elthanor is somewhat sad that you have decided against taking on the fur farm immediately, but there is understanding in his eyes. He shakes each of you by the hand as he says:

'As I have said before, I understand you reasons for not attacking the fur farm now. I will continue my mission by checking their traps in the hope that they cannot add to their sad collection of Prirodna's children and I will also pray to Her for your swift return. Goodbye.'

Elthanor and Flint start to walk back in the direction of the elf's cabin. The odd couple starts to chat with each other as they walk away from the party.